Egypt’s currency weakens to 26.49 to the dollar
The Egyptian pound weakened to 26.49 to the dollar its biggest one-day move since the central bank allowed it to fall by 14.5 per cent on Oct. 27, according Refinitiv Data.
It was about 24.70 to the dollar at the opening of the trading day.
Currency flexibility has been a key demand by the International Monetary Fund, which approved a 46-month, $3 billion financial rescue package in October.
Egypt had been seeking the loan since March, after the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine aggravated a foreign currency shortage, causing a sharp slowdown in imports and a backlog of goods in ports. “Whether this resolves the FX liquidity issues that Egypt has been facing will depend on whether we see significant FX inflows in the near term,” said Farouk Soussa of Goldman Sachs.
“Key is to unify the exchange rate, which will require eliminating the FX backlog and ensuring demand for FX is met going forward,” he added. Egypt’s two main state banks, Banque Misr and National Bank of Egypt, said in statements earlier on Wednesday they were offering one-year savings certificates with a return of 25 per cent, a move that often accompanies a devaluation.
Egypt announced last week it had phased out a system of mandatory letters of credit for importers it imposed in February that further aggravated the import crisis.
The currency has weakened from 19.7 to the dollar in March. Black market currency dealers continued to buy dollars for 29 pounds each on the black market on Wednesday, even after the devaluation.
The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Wednesday published a report detailing interest rate statistics concerning Cypriot banks, including for deposits and loans of eurozone residents in euros, as well as data on amounts of new loans to eurozone residents in euros for November 2022.
The interest rate on deposits with a term of up to one year for households decreased to 0.12 per cent, compared to 0.19 per cent in the previous month. The corresponding interest rate for deposits for non-financial companies experienced a decrease to 0.41 per cent, compared to 0.47 per cent in the previous month.
The interest rate on consumer loans increased to 3.84 per cent, compared to 3.57 per cent in the previous month. The interest rate on residential loans rose to 2.95 per cent, compared to 2.93 per cent during the previous month.
The interest rate for loans to non-financial companies for amounts of up to €1 million experienced an increase to 4.52 per cent, compared to 4.17 per cent during the previous month. The interest rate for loans to non-financial companies for amounts exceeding €1 million registered an increase to 4.35 per cent, compared to 3.43 per cent the previous month.
In November 2022, total new loans registered an increase, reaching €413.1 million, compared to €240.3 million during the previous month. New consumer loans fell to €14.1 million, compared to €15.1 million in the previous month.
New loans for home purchases marked an increase to €91.8 million, compared to €72.7 million in the previous month. New loans to nonfinancial companies for amounts up to €1 million increased to €48.9m, compared to €42.7m in the previous month. Finally, new loans to non-financial companies for amounts exceeding €1m registered an increase to €247.5m, compared to €102.6 million in the previous month.
The number of registered unemployed people in Cyprus reached 16,132 persons at the end of December 2022, according to the data provided by the District Labour Offices and subsequently provided to the state’s press information office. Taking into account seasonal variations, according to the corrected data, which reflect the trend of unemployment, the number of registered unemployed in December 2022 increased to 14,131 people, compared to 14,081 people during the previous month.
Compared to December 2021, there was an increase of 1,332 persons, a rise of 9.0pc. This has been primarily attributed to the sectors of accommodation and catering services, with an increase of 608 people, financial and insurance activities, a rise of 567 people, transport and storage, with an of increase 145 people, information and communication, a rise of increase 74 people.